Author Topic: z80-like portable computer for <$30! (If you build one) (Read 60008 times)

Keoni29 · « **Reply #165 on:** April 07, 2014, 08:51:23 am »

That is right. Not only did we choose to design the hardware ourselves, but we also wanted to write the operating system for it from scratch. There are not a lot of people who use this microcontroller in the way we do.

Streetwalrus · « **Reply #166 on:** April 07, 2014, 12:34:17 pm »

I don't think it's trollish either. Me saying it was was trollish though (hence the "jk"). That said, I didn't downvote the post.

DJ Omnimaga · « **Reply #167 on:** April 08, 2014, 01:07:42 am »

Unless he was joking, I felt it didn't have much its place in this thread. It's like if he implied that this project was a waste of time because the Rasberry Pi is considerably more powerful for an even lower price, a view that fails to see the point of any retro computer project and the possibility that the project was done for fun.

Keoni29 · « **Reply #168 on:** April 08, 2014, 09:14:39 am »

If I did not care for the esthetics of my projects I would have started writing android apps a long time ago.

Streetwalrus · « **Reply #169 on:** April 08, 2014, 11:19:01 am »

Exactly the same reason why I still program for calcs instead of Android and PCs.

Keoni29 · « **Reply #170 on:** April 08, 2014, 11:42:16 am »

Oh I do program pc's, but mainly for tools and stuff. Recently I started writing bootable code for x86 machines too.

Streetwalrus · « **Reply #171 on:** April 08, 2014, 11:52:48 am »

I only program in Python for school on PCs.

We do some pretty awesome math stuff (I implemented a nice matrix library, including a Gaussian elimination function).

DJ Omnimaga · « **Reply #172 on:** April 08, 2014, 05:44:51 pm »

I just kinda prefer old school style games and stuff. But again, there is also the fact that if I made a retro game for today's computers, it would have an hard time competing directly against Final Fantasy 14 and such games. (unless it was released on a site dedicated to retro or outdated hardware stuff like here)

Keoni29 · « **Reply #173 on:** April 14, 2014, 01:19:23 pm »

Yay I got the 16MB flash rom in the mail, so I can start working on the extended filesystem

Best part is that my school got it for me, so I did not have to pay for it. The guy who runs the lab is super cool!

Edit: I managed to read the manufacturer's details from the IC. Next I will work on the extended filesystem!

bb010g · « **Reply #174 on:** April 27, 2014, 04:26:33 pm »

Chiptunes, retro programming, pixel art, and their ilk have reached a point to where they are not done due to limitations or to appeal to nostalgia (most of the time), but as a way to force creativity and minimalism. You only have so much to work with and cannot astound with thin fanciness, so you put a lot into everything. Each color and note have to be picked carefully out of a limited toolbox. It's a lot like calculator programming. It's a challenge, and can be beautiful when done well.

Streetwalrus · « **Reply #175 on:** April 29, 2014, 01:49:25 pm »

That is the true wonder of it actually and also why I do it. This is also what you find in retro games. Carefully crafted stuff that ends up as a quality game, while modern devs produce abominations like CoD. The good old HL2 is way better even though it's not even retro, you can see it was made with love.

Keoni29 · « **Reply #176 on:** May 24, 2014, 09:17:55 am »

Using a rs232 to telnet bridge on my PC I managed to go on BBS boards! My eZ8 computer is ONLINE!

Read the full article here:
http://8times8.host56.com/?p=430

Keoni29 · « **Reply #177 on:** October 08, 2014, 05:48:10 pm »

I worked on the operating system again today. New features are:
Executing files
Syntax: execute <filename> [OPTIONS]
Options:
f : Force execute even if execute flag is not set.

Creating files
Syntax: fwrite <filename> list of decimal values separated by spaces (at least 1 value)

VT100 terminal control characters
Added control characters to do stuff like clearing the screen. This is only for rs232. I want to create a better terminal emulator for the vga display.

Even more stuff under the hood
Stuff that makes my life easier

I noticed my old code is a bit sloppy. I might have to revisit some routines to make them foolproof.

DJ Omnimaga · « **Reply #178 on:** October 14, 2014, 02:29:40 am »

GLad to see this revived

Author Topic: z80-like portable computer for <$30! (If you build one) (Read 60008 times)

Keoni29

Re: z80-like portable computer for <$30! (If you build one)

Streetwalrus

Re: z80-like portable computer for <$30! (If you build one)

DJ Omnimaga

Re: z80-like portable computer for <$30! (If you build one)

Keoni29

Re: z80-like portable computer for <$30! (If you build one)

Streetwalrus

Re: z80-like portable computer for <$30! (If you build one)

Keoni29

Re: z80-like portable computer for <$30! (If you build one)

Streetwalrus

Re: z80-like portable computer for <$30! (If you build one)

DJ Omnimaga

Re: z80-like portable computer for <$30! (If you build one)

Keoni29

Re: z80-like portable computer for <$30! (If you build one)

bb010g

Re: z80-like portable computer for <$30! (If you build one)

Streetwalrus

Re: z80-like portable computer for <$30! (If you build one)

Keoni29

Re: z80-like portable computer for <$30! (If you build one)

Keoni29

Re: z80-like portable computer for <$30! (If you build one)

DJ Omnimaga

Re: z80-like portable computer for <$30! (If you build one)